MotoGP, Rossi: Lorenzo? that pass is becoming a joke

The controversy between Valentino and Lorenzo, reignited yesterday by the latter, came up again today at Aragon. Rossi, however, wants to give it a break, “if we have to talk about that pass for two weeks, then I guess we can just stop making passes. It's turning into a joke”.

But yesterday Jorge confirmed his position…
“In general, the later you make a pass the more aggressive it is. But I had my whole bike in front of him already 20 metres before the corner. Lorenzo saw me, but tried to cross my line thinking I'd run wide”.

Is your relationship returning to how it was in 2010?
“No, it's better now. We've both grown up and are more mature, as well as being professionals. We both like being part of this team and we know we have to work together. The important thing is that personal relationships are kept off the track”.

Can that be a tactic?
“I've never felt so nervous (he laughs). I consider Lorenzo to be a very strong rider, who deserves respect even when he appears to be in difficulty. There's not just a fight for the world title here, but also a fight for second place, which is of course less important but is nevertheless a "matter of honour". We each play our cards and what happened at the end of last year definitely didn't help us to become better friends. The important thing is that it remains a good fight”.

Let's get back to day one at Aragon, you said you wanted to start from where you left off in last year's race…
“Because it was the best I've had here and I've been able to continue from there. There's still a lot of work to do and it's only day one, but the sensations are good”.

Where do you need to improve?
“I'm going well in all sectors of the track, with no real weak points, and am fast in terms of the flying lap. But I am suffering from a drop in tyre performance after only a few laps, I'm stressing them too much”.

A problem for the race…
“Particularly because the Hondas are very fast, especially after several laps, I'm taking about Marquez and Pedrosa but also Crutchlow”.

The Hondas seem to be in fine form…
“This year it's like that, there is no one bike that's better than the other, but at some tracks Yamaha has an advantage and at others it's Honda. Marquez had the best pace today, followed by Dani and me”.

What's the problem with the tyres?
“After 7 or 8 laps they start to slide a lot, the bike moves around and skids. You only have to follow another rider to see the rear tyre smoking during acceleration. This is good for the show, but you lose a lot of time. I want to concentrate on race distance and conserving the tyres as much as possible”.